International partners join forces to tackle grand corruption

A new multinational centre to coordinate law enforcement action against grand corruption was launched this month. The International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC), hosted by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency, brings together specialist law enforcement officers from multiple jurisdictions into a single location to tackle allegations of grand corruption.

The IACCC’s members include agencies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with Interpol scheduled to join later this year. Although, significant cooperation already exists between the countries in tackling trans-national serious crime, no mechanism has prioritised or coordinated specific action against grand corruption, to date.

The new centre will improve fast-time intelligence sharing, assist countries that have suffered grand corruption and help bring corrupt elites to justice. Grand corruption can include acts of corruption by politically exposed persons that may involve vast quantities of assets and that threaten political stability and sustainable development. Acts that might fall into this category include bribery of public officials, embezzlement, abuse of function or the laundering of the proceeds of crime.

“This is the first law enforcement partnership specifically coordinating the global response to grand corruption,” Donald Toon, NCA Director of Economic Crime, said in a statement. “We know from our experience the value that dedicated centres for collaboration bring to successful international law enforcement action and we will use all our combined expertise to tackle the most complex and devastating cases of corruption.”

Law enforcement agencies that are members of the IACCC:

Australian Federal Police

New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office

New Zealand Police

Canadian Mounted Police

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau of the Republic of Singapore

National Crime Agency

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Agencies planning to join IACCC later this year include Interpol and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The U.K. committed to establishing and hosting the IACCC during the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit, and the National Crime Agency will host the IACCC until 2021, supported by U.K. government departments.